ONS: 16 December 2015

AFRICA: The leaders of Libya’s rival parliaments rejected a UN peace deal a day before moderates from both sides were due to sign it.

AMERICAS: Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos has said an agreement signed with FARC rebels on reparations and justice for victims of the country’s civil war is an “important step” towards peace.

ASIA: China said it is actively consulting with authorities in Taiwan on setting up a communications hotline between both countries.

EUROPE: Amnesty International says Turkey has rounded up scores of refugees and asylum-seekers and transported them to detention centers where some were mistreated or forcibly returned to Syria and Iraq.

MIDDLE EAST: A draft resolution to be submitted to the UN Security Council takes “explicit” aim at the Islamic State group and its lucrative trade in oil, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

TECHNOLOGY: Chinese President Xi Jinping called on all nations to respect each other’s cyber sovereignty and said there should be no Internet hegemony.

Turkey: Amnesty International says the country has rounded up scores of refugees and asylum-seekers and transported them to detention centers where some were mistreated or forcibly returned to Syria and Iraq. (AP)

MIDDLE EAST

Region: A draft resolution to be submitted to the UN Security Council takes “explicit” aim at the Islamic State group and its lucrative trade in oil, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said. (AFP)

Region: Clashes erupted after Israeli soldiers raided a refugee camp near Ramallah and shot dead two Palestinians who sought to ram their cars into troops. (AFP)

Qatar: Turkey will establish a military base in the country as part of a defense agreement aimed at helping them confront “common enemies,” Turkey’s ambassador, Ahmet Demirok said. (Reuters)

Yemen: Despite a truce largely holding, the Houthi group and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government have accused each other of violating a ceasefire. (Reuters)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Internet Security: Chinese President Xi Jinping called on all nations to respect each other’s cyber sovereignty and said there should be no Internet hegemony. (Xinhua)

Cuba and United States: Anniversary of Havana and Washington respectively and officially resuming diplomatic relations after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced the thaw in simultaneous speeches – 2014

Indonesia and Japan: Indonesia’s Defense and Foreign Affairs Ministers will meet their Japanese counterparts in a two-plus-two meeting in Tokyo